Billy Bramble, plater apprentice at Hythe Engineering, gains invaluable hands-on experience working on high-profile Royal Navy project.

Hythe Engineering assists with delivery of Royal Navy’s Power Improvement Programme (PIP) for the Type 45 Destroyers.

With such a busy time for NATO and the UK’s defence, it’s imperative that all ships, submarines, and equipment are in good working condition.

HMS Lancaster left Portsmouth on the 22nd of August, with no plans to return until at least 2025. While docked in the naval base, Lancaster underwent maintenance work and upgrades in preparation for its extended mission. Hythe Engineering was contracted by BAE Systems to carry out a number of engineering projects on the vessel between May and July last year. HMS Lancaster’s Extended Mission  As the second major Royal Navy warship to operate out of Bahrain on a three-year security mission, Lancaster will replace HMS Montrose in the Gulf working with Allies and regional partners. The mission involves providing security to the UK and international shipping, and preventing the proliferation of arms and drug smuggling which directly impacts the security of the Middle East and Europe. Once in Bahrain, the 200-strong crew – including a Royal Marines boarding team and Wildcat helicopter flight – will trade places like-for-like with a second crew in the UK every four months. Known as ‘forward deploying’, it spares ships the month-long voyage to and from the Middle East, allowing more time to be spent on patrol, with maintenance carried out in the Gulf rather than back in the UK. Hythe Engineerings’ Work on HMS…

When Royal Navy vessels are on deployment, any necessary marine engineering and maintenance work requires prompt and accurate reactivity. In the summer of 2022, the Hythe Engineering team responded to a request from BAE Systems regarding a Type 45 Destroyer. The ship was operating in the Mediterranean and the Baltic and further south in the Med alongside HMS Albion’s task group. Working with NATO allies and partners, the vessel completed a successful European security mission. While in deployment, the vessel had multiple short-notice activations and has been involved in three major operations across 2022. “Britain’s six Type 45 Destroyers are among the most advanced warships ever built. They’re suited to a huge range of tasks, from hunting down pirates to defending the Fleet from air attack, or providing humanitarian aid. Equipped with the ferocious Sea Viper missile, which can knock moving targets out of the sky from up to 70 miles away, Type 45 Destroyers are the backbone of the Royal Navy.” At the time of the request, the vessel was located in Souda, Crete. Ensuring our team can be globally deployed to complete necessary work allows us to be flexible enough to assist with maintenance projects at any location….

Hythe Engineering and BAE Systems teamed up to provide an exceptional work experience opportunity for the next generation of marine engineers. Through the Sea Angling Classic event, apprentices got to work together to create a stunning, historical, masterpiece. “Two reputable, respected companies came together to provide exceptional work experience for the next generation of marine engineers.” – World of Angling Spirit Through a longstanding partnership between BAE Systems and Hythe Engineering, apprentices are often given incredible opportunities to work on important real-life projects, such as for the Royal Navy. This collaboration was taken one step further through the Sea Angling Classic event where the apprentices worked together to use materials from some of the most iconic vessels of our time to create what can only be described as a stunning masterpiece. “Whoever wins this trophy will not only be taking home a piece of history but a clear and present representation of the skills Hythe Engineering and BAE Systems are building as the talent of tomorrow.” What did the project involve? The largest consideration in creating this trophy was that everyone involved wanted the final piece to stand out and have a high standard of detail and craftsmanship from every…

Hythe Engineering serves the marine industry with anything from fast-response one-off projects to long-term customers. One example of the latter is with Tall Ships Youth Trust. Over the past eight years that we’ve worked with them, we’ve built a great relationship. In this case study, we share some of the great work done by Tall Ships Youth Trust and take you through how we collaborated with the charity to solve a recent problem. Who are Tall Ships Youth Trust? Tall Ships Youth Trust is the UK’s oldest and largest youth development sail training charity. With a particular focus on working with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, they’ve been providing young people aged 12-25, with life-changing experiences at sea for 65 years. During this time, more than 120,000 young people have experienced a transformational adventure, sailing over two million nautical miles with the charity – equivalent to sailing around the world 92 times! They currently operate five vessels, four 72ft Challenger yachts and a 55ft ketch. The Challenger yachts undergo surveys to keep them maintained, which on a recent occasion alerted them to an issue. A repair was required, so the team reached out to Hythe Engineering to complete the work….

Hythe Engineering acted quickly to repair a freeze dryer shelf that stores Juvenile Leukemia Treatment Vials. Read the full story.

Hythe Engineering and BAE Systems teamed up to support Royal Navy vessel. Hythe Engineering mechanical fitters receives recognition for exemplary commitment.

We spoke to one of Hythe Engineering’s key managers, Ken Keeling, to find out about one of his current projects – Sea Tube and Pump Bowl maintenance on a T45 Royal Naval Warship.

Hythe Engineering Director of Value Engineering, a Hythe veteran of over thirteen years, was contracted to carry out routine maintenance work on HMS Queen Elizabeth.